Arts Beat showcases students’ creative talents

Students from a number of local academies today showed off their vast array of artistic and performing talents as the inaugural ‘Arts Beat’ event was held at Queen Elizabeth’s Academy in Mansfield.

‘Arts Beat’, which was attended by over 200 guests including parents and fellow students over two separate showings, was held to celebrate the hard work done in creative subjects such as music, drama, art, dance and photography in three local academies. Students involved in the performances were from Queen Elizabeth’s Academy and Wainwright Primary Academy in Mansfield, together with their peers from The Holgate Academy in Hucknall, all academies who are members of the Diverse Academies Learning Partnership.

Visitors were treated to an exhibition of superb artwork and imaginative photography pieces before a spectacular hour of song, dance and drama, all kicked off with a stomping performance by the Samba Band. Other students then showcased their considerable talents with a wide variety of musical numbers from films such as Aladdin, to more contemporary pieces by Ed Sheeran, and vocal arrangements by choirs from both Queen Elizabeth’s and Wainwright academies. The audience were also wowed by Holgate students performing pieces of physical theatre, together with their take on some musical theatre classics.

Claire Backhouse, lead practitioner for curriculum enrichment, said of Arts Beat, “Within Diverse Academies, we wanted to do something really positive to highlight the brilliant work that our students do in the creative arts, both within their normal academy day and during enrichment sessions. The result has been Arts Beat - a festival of sound, music, movement and colour. I am proud that the students have embraced the event and performed to the very best of their abilities, and the reaction from audiences was very pleasing. There are some very talented students in all of our academies, and we are excited to see them continue to develop.”

Arts Beat was also a key event in the push for all academies within Diverse Academies to be accredited to Artsmark. All academies currently within in the partnership have started their two-year journey towards this important accreditation. The Artsmark scheme recognises education settings that achieve a high level of arts provision, and enables academies and schools to access a wide range of support for the benefit of all students.